Energy Prices, Teen Sports Betting, & A Meaningful Life 4/2/26

Summary

Squawk Pod – April 2, 2026 Episode: Energy Prices, Teen Sports Betting, & A Meaningful Life

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Episode Overview

This episode of Squawk Pod dives into three topical areas: the ongoing volatility in energy prices amid increasing geopolitical tensions with Iran, the rise of teen sports betting and the challenges around financial literacy education, and a candid conversation with Harvard’s Arthur Brooks on his latest book exploring how to build a meaningful life in today’s technology-driven, oft-unhappy society. The hosts Joe Kernen and Becky Quick take listeners through market reactions, the social impacts of modern trends, and the philosophical underpinnings of 21st-century happiness.

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Key Topics & Discussion Points

1. Geopolitical Tensions & Energy Markets

The Iran War’s Market Impact

• The US President’s national address on the ongoing conflict with Iran led to renewed volatility in oil prices, uncertainty about the duration and objectives of US military activity, and speculation around energy infrastructure threats.
• Becky Quick (03:31): “With oil up 6, whatever it is today, it's up quite a bit. It just looks like things aren't necessarily decelerating, which we thought we'd get.”
• Joe Kernen (04:18): “Yesterday during the session, it looked like someone in Iran had asked to negotiate. The President said, as soon as you open the Strait of Hormuz, we'll negotiate.”
• Market specifics: Unusually tight spreads between Brent and WTI, implications for refined products (e.g., jet fuel shortages), and oil company stocks surging.

Expert Analysis – Firas Maqsad, Eurasia Group

• Firas Maqsad (01:24/31:38): “This war will go on for at least another two to three weeks, perhaps a bit longer to achieve its mission… I’m watching the military deployments much closer than I’m actually watching and indexing around what the President is saying.”
• Maqsad clarified the US strategy is likely to reach an inflection point in mid-April as further assets arrive and decisions about escalation or de-escalation must be made.
• Potential for “taking Iran’s oil” discussed as an unstated objective of US policy.
• Becky and Firas expressed skepticism about whether public pronouncements signal actual intentions, noting the administration’s pattern of “head fakes” to influence markets.

Notable Quote

• Firas Maqsad (34:00): “It’s in the interest of the administration to try and manage oil prices, manage the markets, keep them under control in order to prosecute this war longer and further degrade Iran’s military capabilities.”

Market Recap

• Joe Kernen (37:55): Explains the mechanics behind recent oil contract expirations, highlighting WTI moving ahead of Brent in pricing due to contract timing, not underlying global fundamentals.

Timestamps

• 01:12-06:27 — President’s speech, market reaction, oil industry insights
• 31:01-37:50 — In-depth analysis with Firas Maqsad
• 37:55-39:58 — Oil contract mechanics and price volatility explained

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2. Teens & Sports Betting

Financial Literacy and Gambling Risks

• Sharon Epperson (09:37): Reports from a Bronx charter school show teens are more focused on sports betting than budgeting, highlighting a nationwide trend.
• Recent surveys indicate 83% of high school teachers have noticed or heard of students engaging in sports betting or online gambling.
• Despite rapid expansion since 2018, few states teach the risks/consequences of gambling in schools.

Personal Finance Teacher’s Approach

• Brian Zahofsky (10:06): “Would it be a good idea to bet if you have only a 4% chance of winning?”
• Zahofsky uses math and risk analysis to teach students about the statistical pitfalls of gambling, aiming to make them consider the long-term impact.
• Teacher-Student exchange: “I just lost everything.” – Student, after a gambling simulation
• Zahofsky: “And if we’re not teaching about this to our students, to our most vulnerable world students, when are you going to teach it to them?”

Host Perspectives

• Joe Kernen jokes about Warren Buffett’s observation of gamblers in Vegas, reinforcing that long-term market investing typically outperforms gambling.
• Sharon Epperson (12:12): “About 2/3 of adults who are over 21 admit that they started betting or placed their first bet under the age of 21.”
• Discussion on teens being influenced by YouTube betting success stories, leading to quick disillusionment and potential addiction.
• Parlay anecdote: Becky reflects on the emotional rush of a near-win on a $5, four-way MLB parlay, emphasizing the entertainment aspect but warning against making it a regular financial strategy.

Timestamps

• 09:15-15:20 — Sharon Epperson’s report, teacher highlights, host anecdotes

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3. The Happiness Question — Arthur Brooks

Interview: How to Find Real Meaning in a Distracted, Digital Age

• Arthur Brooks (19:14): “The meaning of our lives is getting harder to find. And the reason for that is very clear…we’re using our brains wrong precisely because we solved the problem of boredom.”
• Brooks argues that overuse of digital devices drives us away from quiet reflection, meaning, and asking life’s big questions.
• Actionable Advice: “You can improve your life dramatically by not looking at your phone for the first hour of the day, last hour before you go to bed, meal times. And you’ll really change your life an awful lot.” (20:13)
• Critiques “living in the matrix” — younger generations spend so much time in virtual spaces, their lives feel fake and empty.
• Emphasizes the neurological basis of meaning, boredom, and happiness: “Our brains are supposed to be bored…to enter the state where we ask ‘why’ questions, not just process information.”
• Addresses the “striver’s curse”: linking self-worth to achievement instead of unconditional love.

Notable Quotes

• Arthur Brooks (21:54): “The important thing for the first hour is not using it to pass the time, is not using it to just kind of anesthetize yourself. And that’s what people are really doing. They’re frittering away their time. And the truth is, they’re waiting for something. And that waiting for something is the sense of the meaning of their life.”
• Arthur Brooks (24:35): “Once you actually start asking the big questions, even though you don’t have answers, this is an important thing to keep in mind. There is no creature in the universe that we know, besides Homo sapiens that has ever asked a single question. We think that we’ll have agentic AI that would be like humans because it’ll be able to answer any question. Answering questions is not human. Asking questions is human.”

Brooks’ Practical Tips

• Protocols for phone use: avoid in the first/last hour of the day and during meals.
• Engage in routines of reflection, exercise, and religious or contemplative practice to “protect your brain.”
• Recognize the danger in seeking validation only through achievement (“strivers curse”).
• Understand why animals (like dogs) seem happy: they live in the moment, aren’t burdened by constant comparison or distraction.

Timestamps

• 17:55-28:41 — Arthur Brooks interview and discussion

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Notable, Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On market uncertainty:
  “If the market is looking for a quick answer, they didn’t get it last night from that speech.” — Joe Kernen (06:22)
• On human uniqueness:
  “Answering questions is not human. Asking questions is human.” — Arthur Brooks (24:35)
• On gambling education:
  “And if we're not teaching about this to our students...when are you going to teach it to them?” — Brian Zahofsky (10:49)
• On the digital disconnect:
  “A lot of young people are living in a simulation … their life isn’t real. And the answer is, because we’re living in the Matrix.” — Arthur Brooks (21:54)
• Hosts reflect on generational changes:
  “Suddenly leisure time became a real possibility for everyone. So that led to the 50s and 60s where people were just bored. And then social media came along and just let everyone commiserate and share their misery.” — Joe Kernen (19:01)
• On the economic foundation of conflict:
  “Oil, minerals, it's all based on economic implications because there's no strength without a strong economy.” — Becky Quick (36:55)

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Conclusion

This episode weaves together urgent financial news, major social trends, and deep philosophical inquiry. Squawk Box anchors and guests provide perspective on the practical — how global conflict ricochets into home heating bills — and the existential — the pursuit of meaning in an era of infinite distraction. The result is a rich, timely discussion on markets and minds alike.

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For listeners seeking:

• Market insight: listen to the first 10 minutes and the segments at 31:00–40:00
• Social and policy issues: tune in from 09:15–15:20
• Meaning and happiness advice: start at 17:55–28:41

(All ad breaks and non-content segments have been skipped in this summary.)

Transcript

[Podcast Narrator]

This episode is brought to you by Schwab Market Update, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Join host Keith Lansford for this information packed daily market Preview delivered in 10 minutes or less, including projected stock updates, monetary policy decisions and key results and statistics that may impact your trading. Download the latest episode and [e-mail] Market Update podcast or find Schwab Market Update wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Firas Maqsad]

AT&T business Wireless connecting changes everything.

[Arthur Brooks]

Bring in show music, please.

[Katie Kramer]

Hi, I'm CNBC producer Katie Kramer. Today on Squawk Pod, oil prices soar as the President's speech on Iran stokes

[Joe Kernen]

fears if the market is looking for a quick answer. They didn't get it last night from that speech.

[Becky Quick]

Gold down and silver down and Bitcoin down.

[Joe Kernen]

Yeah.

[Katie Kramer]

Is there further escalation to come? Eurasia Group's Farad Moksad this war will

[Firas Maqsad]

go on for at least another two to three weeks, perhaps a bit longer to achieve its mission. I'm watching the military deployments much closer than I'm actually watching and indexing around

[Katie Kramer]

what the President is saying and asking the small questions like what's life's meaning? Happiness expert and professor Arthur Brooks joins us.

[Arthur Brooks]

There's no creature in the universe that we know besides Homo sapiens that has ever asked a single question. We think that we'll have agentic AI that will be like humans because it'll be able to answer it question. Answering questions is not human. Asking questions is human.

[Katie Kramer]

Plus, from the Earth to the moon and teens in sports betting, a report from a unique personal finance class. It is Thursday, April 2, 2026. Squawk Pod begins right now.

[Firas Maqsad]

Stand Becky by in 3, 2, 1.

[Becky Quick]

Cue it, please.

[Joe Kernen]

Today's the second second day of the second quarter. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Squawk Box right here on cnbc live from the NASDAQ market site in Times S. I'm Becky Quick, along with Joe Kernan. Andrew's out. It's April 2nd and I know that because it's my mother's birthday. Happy birthday.

[Becky Quick]

Happy birthday to your mother as well.

[Joe Kernen]

There you go.

[Becky Quick]

And I think Morgan said it Best. Thank you. Thank you to all of us for being here, which is true, including us. President Trump says the US Is getting close to meeting its objectives in the Iran war. In an address to the nation, the President said that the US Will strike Iran hard over the next two to three weeks. He also said talks are ongoing, but if they don't lead anywhere, the US Is going to hit Iran's electric plants and possibly its oil infrastructure. Here was his message to countries that depend on energy shipments that go through the Strait of Hormuz, which has essentially been closed since the war began.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Build up some delayed courage. Should have done it before, should have done it with us as we asked. Go to the strait and just take it, protect it, use it for yourselves. Iran has been essentially decimated. The hard part is done, so it should be easy.

[Becky Quick]

And the President went on to say that when the Middle east conflict is over, the Strait of Hormuz will, in his words, open up naturally. Still. Okay, we're going to go for the uranium. I don't know. We're going to do anything with carg. I don't know. Are we going to. To bomb the heck out of the electric plants, which their economy is already. Their economy. Can you imagine if you did that? There's no electricity. All these things put pressure on the regime, I guess. But with oil up 6, whatever it is today, it's up quite a bit. It just looks like things aren't necessarily decelerating, which we thought we'd get. Some days we think we're decelerating. Other days it looks like we're.

[Joe Kernen]

Yesterday during the session, it looked like someone in Iran had asked to negotiate. The President said, as soon as you open the Strait of Hormuz, we'll negotiate. Yesterday, last night at 9 o', clock, I stayed up to watch it because I wanted to.

[Becky Quick]

You did?

[Joe Kernen]

Yeah, I wanted to hear what they

[Becky Quick]

had to hear what he had to say. Thank you for having me. Thank us for being here.

[Joe Kernen]

Right. Just to listen to his points on it. On the one hand, he said, this is. Put it in context. This is a very short incursion, a very short war. He went back to World War I. Went back to World War. World War I, one year and change. World War II, three years. Talked about Vietnam War, 18 years. So this is not going to be one of those types of situations, basically he was saying. Then he said, prices are higher at the pump, but this is going to be temporary. Basically suck it up and deal with what you're going to be looking at. Sid, we're still ahead of schedule but then he said we still have more to do and we're going to do that over the next two to three weeks. I think we're in week five now. So that would get you to seven or eight weeks.

[Becky Quick]

How do you like that spread there's

[Joe Kernen]

really tightened up again. Right. 107.64 to 108. Basically the same $0.40, $0.50.

[Becky Quick]

Right.

[Joe Kernen]

Which is really unusual. There's typically been a $6 to $7 spread between the two. This impacts Brent more than it impacts wti.

[Becky Quick]

It's a global price though and we're finding that out. We can produce as much as we want here. I mean the oil companies are like wow, oil awful high. We feel bad we're not going to

[Joe Kernen]

drill more because it's so erratic. We can't count on this being the oil price either.

[Becky Quick]

But it's certainly there's going to be some product. This is where, when this is where windfall profits. You're going to see people wanting to do that again potentially.

[Joe Kernen]

Well look at big oil stocks. Chevron up another 2 1/4 percent. Chevron by the way was the best performer in the Dow over the last.

[Becky Quick]

Perfect for them. They're not doing it, it's not their fault.

[Joe Kernen]

But they're ExxonMobil up by another not giving it back and well the other issue you have is the, the shortfall also comes when you're looking at refined product. Right. Jet fuel in particular is going to start being hard, hard to find and the airlines have acknowledged that as well. But we continue to watch this on a day by day basis and if the market is looking for a quick answer, they didn't get it last night

[Becky Quick]

from that speech and you know, gold down and silver down and bitcoin down.

[Joe Kernen]

Yeah,

[Becky Quick]

that's.

[Joe Kernen]

Things don't always move as you anticipate or might expect.

[Becky Quick]

Four astronauts blasting off from Cape Canaveral on the first mission to the moon in more than 50 years. 3, 2, 1. Booster ignition and lift off. The Artemis 2 mission, launching just after 6:30 Eastern Time last night. It's a 10 day trip, long way to the moon and back. Is designed to set the stage for a landing in two years on the southern part, southern pole where it's light all the time. The crew of three Americans and one Canadian will test NASA's new Orion capsule around Earth for about the first day of the mission. And then they're going to fire their main engine for the trip to the moon. If all goes as planned they'll get close to the lunar surface and on Monday, that's on Monday. And begin a roughly four day trip back. NASA plans to eventually establish a sustainable base on the moon. And I couldn't help.

[Joe Kernen]

Years in the making.

[Becky Quick]

I couldn't help thinking of 2001, which your husband just loves everything about the Arthur C. Clarke and Kubrick and I explained that the guy's headed to the moon and he's like flying in business class and, you know, he calls up his daughter on like facetime, which all seemed ridiculously far fetched when.

[Joe Kernen]

And yet here we are.

[Becky Quick]

And yet in 2001, when the movie came out, was a ways off too. Yeah, but. And he's, you know, headed up there and they, of course they find the buried. He's going up there because no one wants to talk about that monolith that they found up there, which is obviously a sign of a much higher intelligence. Then I was reading Jared Isaac and I've had arguments with people about whether there's life. There's. I think there's 7 trillion galaxies. Each galaxy has hundreds of billions of stars. And they call it, I forget there's a word for what similar to Earth is in terms of temperature and, well,

[Joe Kernen]

the ability to sustain life.

[Becky Quick]

Sustain this kind of life.

[Joe Kernen]

But you figure the question is, do

[Becky Quick]

you need water for that water? And you figure would it be based on hydrocarbons like we are probably, or carbohydrates or whatever. But it's got to be abundant. It's just so hard to get anywhere because the distances are so vast and you can't go faster than the speed of light, theoretically, unless you go through,

[Firas Maqsad]

I don't know, black holes, wormholes.

[Joe Kernen]

Several major sports events are happening this weekend, including the NCAA women's and men's Final Four. Meantime, though, a growing number of teens are playing another high stakes game off of the court. And experts say that makes financial education a greater priority. Sharon Epperson joins us right now with more. And Sharon, this is certainly a problem that a lot of parents are thinking about.

[Sharon Epperson]

Absolutely. A lot of parents are thinking about it. And, you know, as we look at this April, Financial Literacy Month, it becomes an even greater issue. I had the opportunity to visit AECI One Charter School in the Bronx this week. And like many high schools nationwide, students here say there's more talk about sports betting than budgeting or stocks. In this personal finance class, the teacher is playing offense.

[Personal Finance Teacher Brian Zahofsky]

So would it be a good idea to bet if you have only a 4% chance of winning?

[Sharon Epperson]

Making sure his students understand what's at risk with gambling and sports betting when

[Joe Kernen]

it comes to stocks, you can accumulate your money over the years. It's not as risky.

[Sharon Epperson]

A survey of high school teachers from around the country found 83% reported observing or hearing of students participating in sports betting or online gambling.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

FanDuel and MGM sportsbook Wow.

[Sharon Epperson]

Sports betting has grown rapidly since 2018 and is now legal in a majority of states. Yet less than a handful of states have adopted academic standards for how to teach the risks and consequences of gambling.

[Personal Finance Teacher Brian Zahofsky]

Red how you feeling right now?

[Becky Quick]

I just lost everything.

[Personal Finance Teacher Brian Zahofsky]

You just lost everything. And if we're not teaching about this to our students, to our most vulnerable world students, when are you going to teach it to them? Even though they're losing, they're like, this is fun. And to try to get across that gamification of gambling is a very difficult thing to do because they're just looking at it as entertainment. They're not looking at the long term effects of it.

[Joe Kernen]

RED oh, you see?

[Personal Finance Teacher Brian Zahofsky]

So now you won your points.

[Unidentified Speaker]

Yep.

[Sharon Epperson]

Personal finance teacher Brian Zahofsky says he believes understanding the long term financial impact of gambling will increase the odds of student success in the future. April is Financial Literacy Month and it's a good time to sign up for my Money 101 newsletter, share it with others too, and also look for more on the impact of sports betting on teens and adults financial health in a special edition coming up.

[Joe Kernen]

I love that. I love how that teacher is going at it. Like here are the odds, here is the math. This is why this doesn't make sense. This is why you should be putting it long term in the markets over time. We just have Warren Buffett on this week and he was telling us that when he got married, when he was 21 or something and went to, they went to Vegas. They drove through Vegas on their honeymoon when they drove out west and he looked around and saw well dressed people who were making really stupid bets by putting on all of this. And he thought we're going to get really rich just by looking at the money people are willing to throw away.

[Sharon Epperson]

Absolutely. You know, the majority, about 2/3 of adults who are over 21 admit that they started betting or placed their first bet under the age of 21. And of course the numbers are even higher for those who are already in their early 20s, 30s. So we're seeing an increase of people doing this. And so it's important to have it be part of the curriculum in personal finance classes. But there are very few states that have incorporated that into any type of

[Joe Kernen]

Got to take it head on. This is where things are moving. How active are teens when it comes to the prediction markets, when it comes to sports gambling?

[Sharon Epperson]

Well, when you look at the fact that at 18 or 20, you know, you may not be able to legal. There's not legal betting that you can do. But a lot of the, A lot of the parents. But a lot of the. Exactly through their parents. And a lot of the prediction markets will allow you to bet, you know, at 18 and up. So we talked to one student who's a senior in a school outside of Nashville, and he said he was watching on YouTube, watch this guy predict on how many points a player was going to make and made $5,000. He's like, that's free money. So he decided for his 18th birthday to take the money that he'd gotten and start betting. And he lost so much. He never saw those big wins that he thought were going to materialize. And he's like, I could get addicted to this, though. And that's another thing that we're seeing that even the addiction to gambling is greater or more serious. A lot of people have said, and surveys have shown then alcohol or drug

[Becky Quick]

addiction, if you, if you're trying to bet to actually like make money to use or to have fun with, that's the wrong way to do it.

[Joe Kernen]

That's how some of these teenagers.

[Becky Quick]

That's what I mean.

[Sharon Epperson]

You want that immediately.

[Becky Quick]

I mean, I made a bet yesterday, okay, four way parlay on baseball games. And if this is $5. $5. But guess what I would have made. And three of my, my teams won. And the Phillies came back in the bottom of the ninth to beat the Nationals. Otherwise I would have won $128 on $5. Now, that put me kind of in a bad, put me in a bad mood. But I don't need the $128 and I don't need the $5. It was all about watching nervously when the Nationals blew this lead in the bottom. And I was on the edge of my seat watching this.

[Arthur Brooks]

That's.

[Sharon Epperson]

But that's funny. This money, No, I don't.

[Becky Quick]

This is $5.

[Sharon Epperson]

Just had a budget.

[Joe Kernen]

But a friend, Katie Kramer, a producer, has a friend who's a teacher who talked to her students recently. And almost every boy in the class raised their hand when they said when they were looking towards their future funding they were going to put some in retirement. They were going to put. But sports gambling was what they planned.

[Becky Quick]

It just makes it fun. Just makes it fun.

[Sharon Epperson]

They could name one of the Students in the class named in like, two seconds, six sports betting companies. I said, okay, so now what are your six favorite stocks?

[Becky Quick]

Right?

[Sharon Epperson]

No, I wasn't even naming the shoe company, wasn't naming the clothing company, but that's what he was focused on.

[Becky Quick]

I don't know. Great.

[Sharon Epperson]

That's scary.

[Joe Kernen]

Yeah.

[Becky Quick]

You bought Nike at 170. It might be better to put some money on. On Villanova, but I'm fine. Yeah.

[Joe Kernen]

Sharon, thank you.

[Sharon Epperson]

Sure.

[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

Keys will be next.

[Katie Kramer]

Coming up on Squawk Pod, finding the meaning of your life with Arthur Brooks. Well, one way to do it. Don't scroll on your phone right when you wake up.

[Arthur Brooks]

The important thing for the first hour is not using it to pass the time, is not using it to just kind of anesthetize yourself. And that's what people are really doing. They're frittering away their time. And the truth is, they're waiting for something.

[Katie Kramer]

You'll have to wait a little bit, though. Just one more break till that conversation.

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[AT&T Business Wireless Advertiser]

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[Firas Maqsad]

AT&T business Wireless connecting changes everything.

[Arthur Brooks]

What made you confident that you could

[Joe Kernen]

do something that hadn't been done before? I have no fear of failure.

[Julia Boorstin]

Trailblazing women, changing the game.

[Personal Finance Teacher Brian Zahofsky]

One of my favorite pieces of advice. Think about what your boss's boss needs.

[Katie Kramer]

Leadership can look in many, many different forms. It really does come down to just trusting yourself. Life is short, and you just got

[Joe Kernen]

to think big to accomplish big things.

[Julia Boorstin]

Julia Boorstin hosts CNBC Changemakers and Power Players. New episodes every Tuesday. Wherever you get your podcasts,

[Katie Kramer]

you're listening

[Arthur Brooks]

to Squawk Pod up and Becky Q.

[Joe Kernen]

Good morning, everybody. Welcome back to Squawk Box. We are live from the NASDAQ market site in Times Square.

[Becky Quick]

Our next guest says there's an epidemic unhappiness, especially among young people. Joining us now, Harvard professor Arthur Brooks. He is a columnist with the Free Press, host of the Office Hours with Arthur Brooks podcast, and author of a new book out this week, the Meaning of Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness. We have you on a lot. Your job keeps getting harder and harder. Becky and I both love 1923 Taylor Sheridan, but in that you can see society changing from where you had to spend your entire day doing things with no conveniences, even washing your clothes, nothing. And suddenly leisure time became a real possibility for everyone. So that led to the 50s and 60s where people were just bored. And then social media came. This is me telling you what happened. Then social media came along and just let everyone commiserate and share their misery. And here we are right now, and you're fighting an uphill battle. It's never going to work. People are just miserable because they have too much time on their hands. Okay? Now, isn't that it?

[Arthur Brooks]

No. Well, yes. I mean, look, there are problems for sure. But, you know, I wrote this book because the truth of the matter is that the meaning of our lives is getting harder to find. And the reason for that is very clear.

[Becky Quick]

Shouldn't be. It's never been better.

[Arthur Brooks]

Well, it's been better in a lot of ways. But the truth of the matter is that we're using our brains wrong precisely because we solved the problem of boredom. You know, boredom is boring and we don't like it very much, but our brains are supposed to be bored, is what I talk about in the science in this book. And we solved it with the devices in our pockets which created this huge crisis of meaning. We literally started using the wrong part of our brains. And we're doing it systematically. The average American looks at his phone or her phone 205 times a day, every 13 minutes, which shoves us into the part of our brain for analysis, away from mystery and meaning. And so I talk an awful lot about what meaning is and how people can find it. But most importantly is how we can live in a brand new way. That's what this new book is about. And it's kind of an old way, as a matter of fact. But it takes work. Especially for people who don't remember the before times.

[Joe Kernen]

So shutting off your phone essentially.

[Arthur Brooks]

Well, it's basically using protocols for phones. We're not going to get rid of our phones. We're going to have to get on the airplane and get into our bank accounts. But one of the things that I talked about is how you can improve your life dramatically by not looking at your phone for the first hour of the day, last hour before you go to bed, meal times. And you'll really change your life an awful lot. And then you can actually pay attention to some of the things. That human beings are designed to be paying attention to.

[Becky Quick]

It's such an amazing thing. It should be such a. It should be additive. And it should make everything better. And you're basically pointing your finger at this thing as the root cause of a lot of our problems.

[Arthur Brooks]

Well, you know, it's funny because how we use our screens is just. It's a symptom of the way that our culture has changed. Which is that we have to be busy all the time. Idleness is a real problem for us. But human beings are not made to be doing something all the time. Human beings are made to be thinking and mind wandering and talking to each other.

[Becky Quick]

And getting away from milking a cow and doing chores. You know, that's the other thing. There are no days off on a farm. You got to get up at 6am every day.

[Arthur Brooks]

You know, Grandpa Kernan come home from milking the cow and say, Honey, I had a panic attack behind the cow today. No, didn't have time because, well, no, his brain was working the way it was actually supposed to. But we can actually fix that. We can actually fix that by living in a new way. I talk about the six big ways that people need to live a little bit differently.

[Joe Kernen]

Do you do that? Only because I'd like to say that I don't look at my phone in the morning or right before I go to bed. But because of my job, I have to. Yeah, I get up and I check the phone immediately. Same thing right before I go to bed. I'm looking to make sure I'm not missing right now. Do you do it?

[Arthur Brooks]

Well, I'm pretty good about it. But you can't make the enemy the perfect, the enemy the good. So for your job, you have to wake up and look at what's happening to markets, look what's, you know, where the futures, etc. But you don't scroll. The important thing for the first hour is not using it to pass the time, is not using it to just kind of anesthetize yourself. And that's what people are really doing. They're frittering away their time. And the truth is they're waiting for something. And that waiting for something is the sense of the meaning of their life effectively. A lot of young people are living in a simulation. So they get up, their phone is next to their bed, they check the phone, they scroll the phone for a long time, then they go to work on Zoom and they date online and they game. And the result is that life is kind of fake. As a matter of fact, I interviewed a lot of young people for this book and they say, I feel like my life is empty because my life isn't real. And the answer is, because we're living in the Matrix is what happens if you're online all day, you're in the Matrix. Basically the plot of that old movie, as a matter of fact. And so it's getting into real life and figuring out ways to, to fix your brain.

[Becky Quick]

There's a whole thesis about getting up at 5:00am, doing 20 minutes of exercise, 20 minutes of, of mind stimulation and 20 minutes of reflection. And a lot of people are doing. If I'm using my phone to do so I exercise, then can I use it to do word things like an octurtle that works for me to get and they're hard and I got to think and it takes me a while. Is that okay?

[Arthur Brooks]

That's it. Technology is not the enemy here. And we're actually going to figure this out. The problem is when we're anesthetizing ourselves with a technology and we're using it as a substitute for human beings, that's the problem and that's what we actually need to solve. But you're right, I mean these protocols in the morning that I have, I get up, I exercise, I practice my religion first thing in the morning. I do all of these things every single day because I want to protect my brain. And all of us can do that in our own way, but we have to know the science.

[Becky Quick]

We're not able to sleep in until

[Arthur Brooks]

5am but I know 5am is like

[Becky Quick]

lunchtime for me it is. We had a gentleman on who is also trying to help us with happiness. He said, I tend to believe mechanical engineers or people that have had strict science backgrounds more than social science, because I don't even think it's science. And I'm willing to listen to him. But he threw out the whole hierarchy of Maslow's needs, which I've always thought there was a lot of merit in that argument. And I don't know what was his basic thrust. That you need to realize your life could have gone in other directions or something. That self actualization is not the end well.

[Joe Kernen]

And you can't find fulfillment by getting to that point because you're never. I forget exactly what he said. You're never going to know all of the outcomes.

[Arthur Brooks]

The truth is you won't know all the outcomes. But one of the best ways you can repair your brain is by recognizing that the right hemisphere is where we ask why questions of our lives. The left side is the. Is the how to and what stuff that you're doing on your phone. And once you actually start asking the big questions, even though you don't have answers, this is an important thing to keep in mind. There is no creature in the universe that we know, besides Homo sapiens that has ever asked a single question. We think that we'll have agentic AI that would be like humans because it'll be able to answer any question. Answering questions is not human. Asking questions is human. So of course, big mysteries, that's where you're using the brain that you're supposed to. That's what's supposed to happen when you're bored.

[Joe Kernen]

And that's quiet time is basically saying quiet time, unplug and sit and think.

[Arthur Brooks]

Yeah, exactly. And you know the ways to do that. It might seem silly that we actually have a list of tasks for people to find the meaning of their lives, but in point of fact, that's exactly what we need. And I've been testing this method for the past five years with my students at Harvard and it really, really works. It's really life changing.

[Becky Quick]

I mean, we can't anthropomorphize animals. But my dogs are happy. Yeah, they are.

[Arthur Brooks]

Yeah. What kind of dogs are happy? Your dogs?

[Becky Quick]

No, they're.

[Joe Kernen]

And they don't have phones.

[Becky Quick]

They don't have phones. They're here now, man. I'm not sure they're asking questions, but they, you know, if they're treated well, like I always say, there's no such thing as a bad dog.

[Arthur Brooks]

They have love in that. So dogs have. Canines and Homo sapiens have evolved in parallel and they have very similar limbic systems which actually produces emotions. So when you see your dog looking at you with love. Your dog loves you in much the same physiological way that you would feel that love, that connection with the dog. Furthermore, the dog isn't someplace else, someplace in the future, something thinking of the past. I'm just with Joe right now. Says your dog. And that's good.

[Becky Quick]

That's to say your dog's the only thing that loves you more than you love yourself. Not more than he loves himself or he or she, but as much as you. And nobody can love you more than you love yourself. Which is a sick. You look at political types? Yeah.

[Arthur Brooks]

No, there's a lot of truth to that.

[Becky Quick]

Your parents might love you more, but your dogs love you more than you.

[Arthur Brooks]

But this is one of the things that are modern hustle and grind culture. I deal with strivers, you know, people who watch this show. That's me and that's us and everybody watching us. The trouble with that is that we're actually looking for a sense of validation outside of ourself. The admiration of other people. The idea of accomplishment, putting points on the board. And there's a very interesting thing, I write about it in this book that they have kind of the same childhood these drivers do, all of us. You only get attention when you do something incredible. You know, good report card, first chair in the orchestra. And you learn that love is earned. And that's something that follows you throughout life. Which is why more points on the board, more winning. Do you love me yet? Am I lovable yet? And that's something we actually need to get past. Very hard thing. That's the strivers curse as a matter of fact.

[Joe Kernen]

Or at least choose wisely in terms of the people you care about. Their opinions on this.

[Arthur Brooks]

Well, anybody who requires that you do something for their love doesn't love you.

[Joe Kernen]

But look, I feel like. I feel like I have to strive for my kids love. I feel like I should.

[Becky Quick]

Yeah. But pure unconditional love.

[Arthur Brooks]

As much we're talking. Your children would love you even if you were less good at particular things. But you want to serve them because you love them unconditionally.

[Becky Quick]

What's this book I got? The meaning of life.

[Arthur Brooks]

The meaning of your life. Finding purpose in an age of emptiness. And it's the book that I've been working on for the past, my whole

[Joe Kernen]

speaker, I think write these books so quickly. I feel like you've got a book like every eight months.

[Arthur Brooks]

Well, no, it's a big book every three years. A big book every three years that I'm working on. This one has been in my heart and in my head for a really, really long time. And it's the is that it's the strongest statement of neuroscience and behavioral science that I've actually ever put out.

[Becky Quick]

Which is interesting that you put the two together because it is all chemically mediated.

[Arthur Brooks]

Psychology is biology, Joe.

[Becky Quick]

It is. I knew that. That's how I got into biology, starting with psychology.

[Arthur Brooks]

And now you're basically in psychology, back in psychology, right?

[Becky Quick]

But I was right. It's all social media's problem. And a lot of people say they're unhappy because of Trump. But you know what? That's the only thing that makes most of these people happy.

[Arthur Brooks]

Being able to hail Trump, to port it over onto some outside.

[Becky Quick]

I ask him, I go, if Trump, when he's gone, are you going to go up in a puff of smoke? They are. Their life will have no meaning.

[Katie Kramer]

Next up on Squakpod, Eurasia Group's Farad Mokhsad on the outlook for the Iran war. The President says it's about to be finished very fast. Is that true?

[Firas Maqsad]

Every time the President has chosen to deploy military assets, whether it was in the 12 day war against Iran some year and a half ago or whether it was against Maduro and Venezuela, and in the lead up to this war, he's actually used those military assets once they're in theater.

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[Joe Kernen]

you could do something that hadn't been done before? I have no fear of failure.

[Julia Boorstin]

Trailblazing women, Changing the game One of

[Personal Finance Teacher Brian Zahofsky]

my favorite pieces of advice Think about

[Joe Kernen]

what your boss's boss needs.

[Katie Kramer]

Leadership can look in many, many different forms. It really does come down to just trusting yourself. Life is short and you just gotta

[Joe Kernen]

think big to accomplish big things.

[Julia Boorstin]

Julia Boorstin hosts CNBC Changemakers and Power Players. New episodes every Tuesday. Wherever you get your podcasts.

[Katie Kramer]

Welcome back to Squawk Pod from CNBC Today with Joe Kernan and Becky Quick.

[Becky Quick]

Now, the latest on the Iran war in reaction to the president's speech last night. Let's bring in Firas Maqsad, Eurasia Group managing director for Middle east and North Africa. It's good to see you this morning. Thanks, Firas, for joining us. My pleasure. Joe, what do you think the president said last night that was different than what we were thinking earlier in the day and earlier in the week about the strait and in what happened with WTI and Brent today? What do you what came out that we're it's going to stay closed longer?

[Firas Maqsad]

Yeah, Joe, I think this was primarily a communication exercise targeting the domestic audience because from a policy perspective, the president, if anything, only reaffirmed what most of us already understood, namely that this war will go on for at least another two to three weeks, perhaps a bit longer to achieve its mission. He reiterated what the objectives are to further degrade Iran, its ballistic missile program. He sunk his navy re obliterating the nuclear program, what's left of it, after the 12 day war. But I would argue that there is an unstated objective, at least he didn't highlight that yesterday, which is what the president has referred to as taking Iran's oil. He's made that clear as an objective as late as Monday in an interview with the Financial Times. But in terms of timeline and objectives, there wasn't much that new that's there. I think we're going to be heading towards a very important inflection point, mid April in that two to three week time frame that he outlined, which is when the president will decide whether to go for the maximalist approach and try to seize control of Iran's oil. A lot of the military assets that are currently still on the way to the region, the USS Bush, some other Marines, the Marine Expeditionary Unit, elements of the 82nd Airborne, those don't get there until mid April. And the president is going to have to make a decision whether he wants to go all in or whether he wants to take an off ramp. And I think the domestic standing here in the US the impact, the energy impact, but also Iran's residual military capabilities are going to be key factors.

[Becky Quick]

Right. I that's what I've been thinking for us, that we have no idea. And when we have these, these brief periods where we think things are winding down and the objectives have been met, we never know whether that's what the president that's what he wants to signal as a head fake to Iran to whomever is trying to follow along. I don't think we have any idea. And there could be some major, as you say, inflection point a couple of weeks from now and we have no idea what that might be. But there's a lot of things moving into the area that, that make me wonder whether we're actually seeing things pull back or whether they're going to ramp up even more. So yeah.

[Firas Maqsad]

Joe, I would argue to you that every time the president has chosen to deploy military assets, whether it was in the 12 day war against Iran some year and a half ago or whether it was against Maduro and Venezuela and then the lead up to this war, he's actually used those military assets once they're in theater. Also, I would say that there's a clear discernible strategy here in terms of communication. The president time and again has said that he is in touch with the Iranians, that the channels are open, that they're negotiating, that the Iranians want a deal only to back away from that. I think it's in the interest of the administration to try and manage oil prices, manage the markets, keep them on under control in order to prosecute this war longer and further degrade Iran's military capabilities. So if we see a lot of back and forth in terms of what the administration is signaling, it's part of that strategy of actually trying to manage the markets. It's not necessarily indicative of where the President is going. I'm watching the military deployments much closer than I'm actually watching and indexing around what the President is saying.

[Becky Quick]

And just in terms of, of trying to get into the President's psyche. When you look at the period when he wasn't president to where he came back, there were, there was a lot of adversity, obviously, and a lot of times I don't think he cares what's being said about him or what I know he does. But I think he's going to do things based on what he's going to do. And it makes me think even if there isn't in this country, if there's memories of Iraq and if there's no stomach for casualties and all these things, I think that he might do it anyway just based on what he thinks is necessary and needs to be done long term for that part of the world, which is why I don't think anything's off the table.

[Firas Maqsad]

I happen to agree. It's actually astonishing that we're talking about ground troops and Marines being deployed to the region. I mean, this is a precedent that time and again has messaged no forever wars in the Middle east, certainly no ground troops in the Middle East. And yet here we are, thousands of American marines and soldiers on their way to the region. I think to put this in a broader context and fixated with this idea of controlling the oil, whether it's Maduro's oil and Venezuela or even prior to that was in Syria and justifying the residual American presence there as having to do with the oil. And certainly when it comes to Iran, that's part of the messaging that has popped up every once in a while. And perhaps this is something that has to do with great power competition with, with China. I don't think that the president was delighted to see the Chinese so successfully weaponize their control of the critical mineral supply chain and greater control over the globes. The world's oil reserves is something that continues to animate Donald Trump as a

[Becky Quick]

businessman and now as obviously the president. You're right. Oil, minerals, it's all based on economic implications because there's no strength without, without a strong economy. It almost goes hand in hand. All right, for us, we. What is it today? I keep figuring out today's second. The second after you're talking mid April is when does everything arrive in your calculus that you're talking?

[Firas Maqsad]

Things arrive at different times. There's already a Marine unit that is just outside the straits. The second is, I'm told, due to arrive next week. And then we're waiting for the carrier. And the carrier, best estimates out there that I've seen for military planners is again around that mid April time frame. So that's, that's the moment to watch. It's the go, no go moment for President Trump and whether he wants to begin to go for the off ramp or try to take the oil.

[Becky Quick]

Very good. All right, thanks for us. Appreciate it. And we'll talk to you before then, I hope.

[Firas Maqsad]

My pleasure.

[Joe Kernen]

All right, very quickly, let's show oil prices again because oil prices are what are moving the market. But there is a weird thing that happened overnight. Okay, you right now see, that makes sense. Yeah. This is the May contract for Brent expired, I think it was reaching towards $119 before its expiration overnight. It expired because back in 2016, they changed it so that the Brent contract would expire a month and a day before actual physical delivery. It takes longer for the North Sea delivery mechanism to actually work. So this morning when you look at our boards, don't just show me Brent, because you can see 109 11, which is up 7.8%. WTI is trading at $110 for the active month. That is still May. And that's simply because it doesn't expire the May contract for WTI until I believe, April 21st. So you're going to continue to see this where because of the action in the markets and because the movement has been so volatile and so rapid. When you look at our boards this morning that show you WTI vs Brent, you will see that WTI has actually moved ahead of Brent prices because we're working on different contracts, months that are active and there's still a lot of action in that current month. So $109.94 for WTI crude for May delivery, that's up 9.7%. We're looking at the June contract for Brent, which is at 108.84. But again, this is simply because of the expiration of that May contract. It was up at about $119 before it expired. That is where you would see the crack spread still or not the crack spread, but the spread between WTI and Brent. We'll continue to keep an eye on this, but Brent and wti, those energy prices are what are pressuring the futures this morning. What we're watching is massive volatility that is moving the current contract. And that's why you see this huge spike, particularly in oil prices for wti.

[Katie Kramer]

That is Squawk Pod for today. Thanks for listening. The markets in the US And Europe are closed tomorrow in observance of Good Friday. But there will be a special Squawk Box on TV for the monthly jobs report that's on CNN NBC from 8 to 9am Eastern. Maybe we'll have something new in your podcast feed too. Squawk Box is hosted by Joe Kernan, Becky Quick and Andrew Ross Sorkin. Please follow Squawk Pod wherever you get your podcasts. And Happy Easter. Happy Passover. Have a great weekend. We'll meet you right back here on Monday.

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We are clear.

[Arthur Brooks]

Thanks, guys.

[Joe Kernen]

So.

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